Alam na natin ngayon na kaya natin silang talunin sa Japan – coach Chot Friday, 06 July 2007
TAIPEI - JORDAN may have posted a 74-70 win over San Miguel-Team Pilipinas Friday, but national coach Chot Reyes feels like chuckling deep inside.
With the loss, its third in five outings, the Filipinos may have difficulty in targetting the championship of the 29th William Jones Cup played at the Hsinchuang Gym here. But Reyes said, "If there's such a thing as a good loss, I think this is it."
For one, coming off a hard-earned win over Korea last Thursday, the Filipinos started the game against Jordan on a sluggish note, allowing Jordan to jump to a 7-0 lead with Ayman Idais knocking in a pair of free throws and Zaik Albas scoring five points that included a triple.
"Itinago ng Jordan si Idais against the United States. Pinagpahinga din nila yung si Jamal Almaaytah," said Reyes."Pero sa atin, inilabas nila ang dalawang iyon."
While Jordan wet full throttle,Reyes still managed to hold some punches, reserving the likes of RenRen Ritualo, Nino Canaleta and Ranidel de Ocampo.
For most of the way, Reyes opted to go small, with combinations featuring the likes of Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa and Dondon Hontiveros along with two big men against Jordan which has an average height of 6-6 1/2.
Jordan, which seized solo lead with a lofty 4-1 record, enjoyed its biggest spread at halftime, 38-26.
Mark Caguioa fired 11 points in the third quarter and Kelly Williams added five as San Miguel-Team Pilipinas chopped down the Jordan lead to 53-48.
The Nationals clamped down on defense and came to within two points thrice, the last at 70-68 on a triple by Gabe Norwood, 1:31 to go.
"I like the attitude displayed by my boys and I'm satisfied. We came to within two free throws of tying the score," said Reyes, pointing out flubbed charities by Kerby Raymundo off Alkbas with 1:03 remaining.
After that, Enver Zoobzokov scored on a jumper and naturalized Jordanian Rasheim Wright canned two free throws to seal the victory.
"I'll take this loss anytime. At least, alam natin na kaya nating manalo sa kanila sa Tokushima,"said Reyes.
Despite the victory, Jordan coach Mario Palma says he is still wary of his team's chances against the Filipinos in the FIBA-Asia Men's Championship in Tokushima, Japan late this month.
"Jordan might be the best team at the moment here in the Jones Cup but the Philippines is a tough squad and the better team will win in Japan," said Palma.
Jordan is one of two teams playing in the Jones Cup that is in the same bracket as the Philippines in the FIBA-Asia joust. The other is Iran which San Miguel-Team Pilipinas meets at 3:30 pm Saturday.
In the other matches Friday, defending champion Athletes In Action sent Lebanon reeling to its second straight setback, 81-70, while Qatar handed Japan its fourth loss in five outings via an 86-68 rout. (BP)
NOTES: Asi Taulava gulped four bottles of energy drink in preparing himself for his battle against 7-foot-4 Korean behemoth Ha Seung-Jin. He went on to match up well with the former Portland Trailblazer as he logged seven points and the same number of rebounds. He made three clutch free throws, helping the team seal the morale-boosting 88-84 win. The problem for Taulava was that he was still hyper long after the match was over…….. RP team manager Robert Non arrived Friday in time for the RP-Jordan tiff. He just followed the team as, among others, he had to attend the PBA Board of Governors meeting Wednesday. Non said Harbour Centre was given up to July 31 to decide whether or not it’s joining the pro league next season......... The Jordanian coach believes the RP team is in much better shape, saying they have just trained with a complete lineup. "We started training just about the same time as the Philippines. But we're training with only seven to eight players," said coach Mario Palma.
The scores:
JORDAN 74 - Almaayta 18, Idais 15, Daghles 9,Alkhas 8, Wright 8, Abbas 6, Sobzoko 5, Al-Sous 3, Abbas 2, Anajjar 0.
SMC-RP 70 - Caguioa 25,Alapag 17, Raymundo 8, Norwood 5, Wiliams 5, Hontiveros 4, Helterbrand 4, Taulava 2, Pennisi 0, Yap 0, Menk 0.
Quarters: 14-9; 38-26; 53-48; 74-70.
Source: www.pba.com.ph
TAIPEI - JORDAN may have posted a 74-70 win over San Miguel-Team Pilipinas Friday, but national coach Chot Reyes feels like chuckling deep inside.
With the loss, its third in five outings, the Filipinos may have difficulty in targetting the championship of the 29th William Jones Cup played at the Hsinchuang Gym here. But Reyes said, "If there's such a thing as a good loss, I think this is it."
For one, coming off a hard-earned win over Korea last Thursday, the Filipinos started the game against Jordan on a sluggish note, allowing Jordan to jump to a 7-0 lead with Ayman Idais knocking in a pair of free throws and Zaik Albas scoring five points that included a triple.
"Itinago ng Jordan si Idais against the United States. Pinagpahinga din nila yung si Jamal Almaaytah," said Reyes."Pero sa atin, inilabas nila ang dalawang iyon."
While Jordan wet full throttle,Reyes still managed to hold some punches, reserving the likes of RenRen Ritualo, Nino Canaleta and Ranidel de Ocampo.
For most of the way, Reyes opted to go small, with combinations featuring the likes of Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa and Dondon Hontiveros along with two big men against Jordan which has an average height of 6-6 1/2.
Jordan, which seized solo lead with a lofty 4-1 record, enjoyed its biggest spread at halftime, 38-26.
Mark Caguioa fired 11 points in the third quarter and Kelly Williams added five as San Miguel-Team Pilipinas chopped down the Jordan lead to 53-48.
The Nationals clamped down on defense and came to within two points thrice, the last at 70-68 on a triple by Gabe Norwood, 1:31 to go.
"I like the attitude displayed by my boys and I'm satisfied. We came to within two free throws of tying the score," said Reyes, pointing out flubbed charities by Kerby Raymundo off Alkbas with 1:03 remaining.
After that, Enver Zoobzokov scored on a jumper and naturalized Jordanian Rasheim Wright canned two free throws to seal the victory.
"I'll take this loss anytime. At least, alam natin na kaya nating manalo sa kanila sa Tokushima,"said Reyes.
Despite the victory, Jordan coach Mario Palma says he is still wary of his team's chances against the Filipinos in the FIBA-Asia Men's Championship in Tokushima, Japan late this month.
"Jordan might be the best team at the moment here in the Jones Cup but the Philippines is a tough squad and the better team will win in Japan," said Palma.
Jordan is one of two teams playing in the Jones Cup that is in the same bracket as the Philippines in the FIBA-Asia joust. The other is Iran which San Miguel-Team Pilipinas meets at 3:30 pm Saturday.
In the other matches Friday, defending champion Athletes In Action sent Lebanon reeling to its second straight setback, 81-70, while Qatar handed Japan its fourth loss in five outings via an 86-68 rout. (BP)
NOTES: Asi Taulava gulped four bottles of energy drink in preparing himself for his battle against 7-foot-4 Korean behemoth Ha Seung-Jin. He went on to match up well with the former Portland Trailblazer as he logged seven points and the same number of rebounds. He made three clutch free throws, helping the team seal the morale-boosting 88-84 win. The problem for Taulava was that he was still hyper long after the match was over…….. RP team manager Robert Non arrived Friday in time for the RP-Jordan tiff. He just followed the team as, among others, he had to attend the PBA Board of Governors meeting Wednesday. Non said Harbour Centre was given up to July 31 to decide whether or not it’s joining the pro league next season......... The Jordanian coach believes the RP team is in much better shape, saying they have just trained with a complete lineup. "We started training just about the same time as the Philippines. But we're training with only seven to eight players," said coach Mario Palma.
The scores:
JORDAN 74 - Almaayta 18, Idais 15, Daghles 9,Alkhas 8, Wright 8, Abbas 6, Sobzoko 5, Al-Sous 3, Abbas 2, Anajjar 0.
SMC-RP 70 - Caguioa 25,Alapag 17, Raymundo 8, Norwood 5, Wiliams 5, Hontiveros 4, Helterbrand 4, Taulava 2, Pennisi 0, Yap 0, Menk 0.
Quarters: 14-9; 38-26; 53-48; 74-70.
Source: www.pba.com.ph
0 Comments:
Post a Comment